(Image source: Twitter)
Posters, signs, and stickers depicting an uncharacteristic rainbow flag popped up seemingly overnight Wednesday in West Hollywood, Calif., an area with a historically large LGBTQ community, in response to the terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. last weekend.
However, the flag isn't the normal rainbow flag used to express solidarity with gay rights and the lives lost in the shooting.
The flag uses the traditional gay pride colors, but features the snake on the Gadsden flag, often used by Tea Party supporters. The flag also uses the slightly provocative hashtag, "#shootback."
West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister told the L.A. Times, “We are disturbed by them.”
“We don't believe in an eye for an eye, and we advocate against the gun violence.”
“I understand that people want to fight back after Orlando, but there are ways to do that without a gun,” continued Meister.
I am not entirely sure what Meister thinks the flag represents, but it does not seem to be urging people to take up weapons and start haphazardly attacking people as revenge for the murders in Orlando.
In an exclusive interview with PJ Media, street artist Sabo came forward to explain the meaning behind the posters, claiming to represent a group involved in making the flag.
“It’s important to know that this message is from the gay community,” Sabo said. He then went on to voice the group’s frustration with those, especially among their own community, who are calling for gun control as a solution for the attacks. “The gay community needs to realize that the police are there to respond, not to protect,” he continued.
He also vehemently denied the idea that the flag is encouraging retaliation.
“It is all of our responsibilities to be able to protect ourselves and our families. We cannot do that if our elected officials disarm us,” he said.
Support gun rights seems to be a small, but growing idea in the LGBTQ community. The Pink Pistols, a gay gun rights group, has reportedly had its memberships double just the day after shooting occurred. It seems that more and more people from the LGBTQ community are seeing that they need to take their defense into their own hands.